France has pulled out of the 20th commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda following accusations by President Paul Kagame, who said France played ‘a direct role’ in one of the bloodiest events of 20th century.

The accusations were voiced by Kagame in an interview with the
African weekly, Jeune Afrique, due to be published on Sunday. He
said France had a “direct role in the political preparation
of genocide and participation in its execution.”

France supported the Hutu-led government of Juvenal Habyarimana
in Rwanda, helping to train and arm its military. After
Habyarimana’s assassination, which escalated hostilities between
Tutsi and Hutu to a full-fledged civil war, the Hutu-dominated
military colluded with militias in the 100-day slaughter of Tutsi
and moderate Hutus, which left between 500,000 and 1,060,000
million people dead, according to different estimates.

Paris also sent its military to carry out UN-mandated Operation
Turquoise, aimed at establishing a safe zone in the country.
Critics say it was meant to prop up the crumbling Hutu
government, and helped many genocide perpetrators to escape the
retribution of the advancing Tutsi rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front
under Kagame command.

Tension between France and Rwanda over the issue has lingered for
years, and the two countries had no diplomatic relations between
2006 and 2009. But during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential term
there was a certain thaw, with Kagame visiting Paris in 2011.

Following Kagame’s comments, the French Foreign Ministry said
they didn’t aid reconciliation prospects between the two
countries. French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who was
supposed to head the French delegation at the commemoration event
on Monday, will not visit Rwanda due to the rumpus.

Commenting on the French demarche, Rwanda’s Foreign Minister
Louise Mushikiwabo said Paris must face a “difficult truth”
regarding its role in the genocide.

The government of Belgium, the former colonial power controlling
Rwanda, which had a peacekeeping force at the time the bloodshed
started and was also mentioned by Kagame as a culprit in the
genocide, said it will still send a delegation. Unlike France,
Belgium apologized to Rwanda for failing to prevent the
atrocities.

The Rwandan genocide, which started on April 6, 1994, after a
plane carrying Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart Cyprien
Ntaryamira was shot down by two anti-aircraft missiles, was among
the worst humanitarian catastrophes of the last century. Official
mourning for the lives lost 20 years ago began three months ago
in Rwanda.

Apart from the direct damage the genocide did, it dealt a blow to
the United Nations, which failed to act and stop the ongoing
bloodshed, giving fuel to the supporters of the concept of
“humanitarian interventions.” Its legacy is evident today, as
humanitarian reasons are used and misused by countries pursuing
their own geopolitical interests.